Wednesday, May 2, 2007

This morning (Wednesday 5/2) I took a brief look at the boardwalk at Magee Marsh (Lucas Co., n.w. Ohio). The overall species composition was similar to what I had reported the previous day, and many of the notable individuals (such as Cape May, Blackburnian, and Bay-breasted Warbler males) seemed to be in the same places. The numbers of Yellow-rumped Warblers and Hermit Thrushes had dropped considerably from what had been there Tuesday, but Palm Warblers, Nashville Warblers, Black-and-white Warblers, and Ruby-crowned Kinglets were still present in about the same abundance as before. New for me today were Lincoln's Sparrow and Scarlet Tanager (but I know that at least Lincoln's Sparrow had been seen by others yesterday). Interesting to think that Yellow-rumped Warbler and Hermit Thrush might have migrated out in last night's conditions while many other species stayed put. The only noticeable increases for me were Pine Warbler (I saw four today and only one yesterday) and White-crowned Sparrow (big influx at the east end of the boardwalk, as well as to the south at the headquarters of Black Swamp Bird Observatory, just off Route 2). I couldn't relocate yesterday's Clay-colored Sparrow. Among diurnal migrants, a number of Sharp-shinned Hawks came by paralleling the beach, and there were some big flights of Blue Jays going over.

The Little Blue Heron adult was along the causeway through Magee Marsh again today, just north of the obvious big pump on the west side of the road.

Crane Creek, Magee Marsh, Black Swamp: where are we?

Birders all over North America have heard of "the boardwalk at Crane Creek" as a fabulous place to see migrants, while locals more often refer to "the Magee boardwalk." The confusion is understandable. The famous boardwalk is actually on the Magee Marsh Wildlife Area, while the adjacent beach and half the parking lot were until recently part of Crane Creek State Park; the latter areas were turned over to the Ohio Division of Wildlife on May 1, 2008. The creek itself --Crane Creek--flows into Lake Erie just west of the boardwalk, on Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge. Our bird observatory is named for the Great Black Swamp, which used to cover much of northwestern Ohio and northeastern Indiana. On these pages I refer to "the Crane Creek -Magee Region" as a general term for the Lake Erie shoreline between Toledo and Sandusky, Ohio.